News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-29
QUEER THINGS IN JAPAN.
GLIMPSES OF FESTIVAL IN THE
STREETS OF YOKOHAMA.

w. j. holland, the naturalist, IN a let
ter from Yokohama, Japan, to the Phila-
delphia Press, says Our kilograms
home having been dispatched, l pro-
ceeded forth, under the guidance of Mr..
LOOMS, to see Yokohama by night. We
had scarcely turned the corner of the
hotel before my attention was attracted
by the sound of several gongs being
beaten at quick intervals, and looking
across the canal which separates the
quarter of the city occupied by Euro
peans from the native town, | saw a
temple Illuminated by multitude of
japanese lanterns and throngs of men and
women swarming upon the streets.
What's up ?"I exclaimed. "Ah "
SAID my friend, "you are quite in luck.
This is a chance you may not have again
for many days, or even a month. There
is matsuri orheathen festival in progress
The sound of the gongs comes from that
temple on the brow of the hill below in
the street the merchants are holding a
bazaar and selling their wares by lamp
light. Do you wish to see the affair ~
" OF course | do, was my answer. Cross
ing one OF the numerous bridges which
span the canal, we found ourselves in the
midst OF bewildering scene. The long
street was lighted up from end to end by
lnnumerable Japanese lanterns. Before
every shop the wares for sale were dis
played in boxes and in trays, aud at every
street corner there were men and women
with stands displaying the most singular
objects of merchandise
The first shop to winch we came was
that of a green grocer. The fruit and
vegetables were neatly arranged in fiat
trays and baskets. | proceeded at once
to sample the fruit, my appetite being
sharpened for this by my long sea voyage
The biwas, or loquats, were not bad,
though the outside is a little woolly and
the inside little stony. The plums,
apricots and peaches proved a delusion
and snare. Though fair of exterior to
the eye, to the tongue they were an abomi-
nation, for the reason that they had been
taken from the trees long before they had
ripened. The custom of plucking the
fruit for market before it is ripe is uni
versal in Japan, and the reason assigned
is the alleged fact that if allowed to re-
main upon the trees until ripe the fruit
would be destroyed by insects.
Besides the fruits mentioned the green
grocer's stall furnished sweet potatoes
and common Irish potatoes, egg plants of
small size, but apparently good quality,
onions, leeks, beets, cucumbers, species
of gourd which is picked, and small,
fiat, dark green squashes, cabbages and
bamboo shoots. The young shoots of
the bamboo are cut off just as they begin
to emerge from the ground as asparagus
is taken with us, and being tender and
succulent, are much esteemed as an arti-
Gle of diet. | tried some stewed bamboo
shoots the other evening and found
them not unpalatable, though it was,
confess, little strange to think of eat
cooked tishingrods Most conspicuous,
however, among the vegetables was the
dai-kon or giant radish. These radishes
attain to huge proportions, especially in
one or two of the southern islands. The
common form is long, and specimens
vary from two to five feet in length, and
from four to ten inches in diameter at the
top. The daikon is variously prepared,
but is most commonly sailed down in
brine and allowed to ferment In this con-
ditiOn it acts as a mild laxative, counter
acting the opposite tendency of the rice
and the tea, which form the staple arti-
Giles of diet among the natives. Ferment-
ed dai kon is anything but agreeable to
Caucasian nostrils.
From the reen-grocer's we wendell
our way to a candy store. The japanese
are very fond of confectionery, and their
candies are put up very tastefully in
boxes and papers. My companion di-
rected my attention particularly to GER
tain form of candy prepared from the
mizu-ami, or syrup extracted from malt
ed rice. By the process of mailing the
starch in the rice is converted into dex-
trine, and the syrup, which is clear, col
l.A-c very tss744sir~-.pd
viscous in consistency, is extremely nu-
tritious. 1t is in its properties not dis
similar to some of the artificial foods
which are populaIly used among the
Western nations to nourish infants and
invalids. The candy, which in reality
contains no sugar, is quite palatable, and
is exported to Europe and America to
some extent.
Near the confectionery store we found
the tea merchant and close by the dealer
in japanese lanterns. The florist had
set forth wonderful display of curl
ously dwarfed and grotesquely trained
plants, and beside him, squatting on the
ground, was the dealer in japanese katy
dds and tire-fies. The former are sold
in little bamboo cages about four inches
square. A cage and its occupants fetch
the modest sum of ten cents. The dealer
had about one hundred cages in his stand,
and the insects, nothing dismayed by the
crowds and the noise, were keeping up
a cheerful chipping, which sounded like
low bird concert, and could be heard a
hundred feet away above the jabber of
the multitude and the clatter of their
wooden shoes upon the pavements. The
tire-fies are sold by the dozen in little
gauze cages, and as the dealer thrust
his hand into the Iauze bag, which con-
tanned about peck of the hapless little
beetles, in order to withdraw dozen or
two for one of his juvenile customers,
the effect was little short of being splen-
did. His yellow, skinny hand was span
gled for an instant by living gems and
corruscated with blue and yellow lights
rivaling in beauty the flashes of the
diamond.
At last we found ourselves before the
temple. Stepping up under the wide,
overhanging caves of the grotesque
structure, we were surrounded by mot
ley throng of worshippers. Immediately
under the rafters, before the screen which
hides the idols from view, were sus-
pended two great gongs, and before each
of them hung heavy rope, so arranged
that by pulling it the gong was made to
sound. Under the gongs, raised a little
above the level of the pavement, was a
platform covered with white cloth.
Scores of paper lanterns hung in fes-
toons from the ends of the rafters. AS
each worshipper came forward he stopped
for moment, calculated brief prayer,
tossed a small copper coin, generally one
tenth of a cent, upon the platform, and
jerking the r05e sounded the gong
overhead, and turning, disappeared in the
crowd or passed into one of the numer-
Gus side shows or lemonade booths which
surrounded the temple area.
Turning to my guide, who is thor
oughly familiar with these things, | as ked
him for an explanation. "These people, "
he said, call belong to the poorer classes.
Educated japanese are not generally fire.
quenters Of these temples. Notice the
money on this platform. There is two
cent piece. That is the largest coin in
value upon the cloth. The whole pile
of coppers does not probably amount in
actual value to more than $40. The
prayers which are offered are very brief,
as you notice There is no confession OF
sin or unworthiness. The prayers are
mostly the expression of a desire for
good luck, prosperity in business or es-
cape from evil that is feared. That
young girl has just asked the god within
for the safn retlIrn of her lover from